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A week later, the day of the auditions was here, and Lucille was excited to see her friends perform at the end of the day. Her parents had already left for work, and Valerie was nowhere to be seen, so she was home alone.
Grabbing her pill container, Luce opened the lid that had a 'T' printed on it, representing Thursday. She always thought that this part of her morning would be so much more fun if her pills weren't so boring. There was one blue and the rest were white.
After downing the medication, she grabbed out her phone and sent Evangeline a text, asking if she wanted company on the way to school. Evangeline was quick to reply, asking if they could go over her audition again on the bus. The auditions weren't until after school, but Luce already knew she was going to use every spare moment today to rehearse.
After replying, Luce got ready for school and then waited out in the hall for Evangeline. She was reading a book when she heard footsteps.
"Finally you're ready. We can't miss-" Luce stopped herself, realising that it wasn't her curly-haired friend descending the steps. She recognised the middle-aged man immediately, her cheeks going red in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry Mr Parker, I thought you were someone else."
"That's fine," he laughed, glancing at his watch. "I'd be luckier if I was, it looks like we're both running late this morning."
Luce smiled politely as he said goodbye, before rushing down the stairs, glad the man didn't make her feel awkward for mistaking him for Evangeline. Peter's uncle was a nice guy. Luce had only met him and his wife May in passing, but they were good neighbours. Not unlike Peter, she didn't know all that much about them either.
Luce knew that Peter came to live with them after she had moved into the building and that Peter's parents had died. She wasn't sure how, and she didn't find it polite to ask.
When Evangeline finally decided to emerge from her apartment, the two girls headed downstairs and caught the bus with only seconds to spare. Luce did as promised and helped Evangeline practise her lines the whole way to school, making sure she felt confident. Evangeline said the words with heart, really leaning into the style used by actors in the movie adaptations of Shakespeare's work.
"Well, what do you think?" Evangeline asked as they stepped off of the bus.
She looked so excited and was trying not to show it before her friend gave her feedback. "I don't think I could say more than I did last time, Evangeline. You're really talented. I think you've got a really good chance of being Juliet."
The girl did an excited little dance before she placed the script in her bag. "This is going to be so much fun!"
As they walked into the school hallway, Luce turned to her. "Speaking of fun, I forgot to ask, how was the field trip the other day?" Luce passed her back the script she had lent her to help the girl practice with a smile, walking alongside her.
